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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28590729">Wordless</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/zirafics/pseuds/zirafics'>zirafics</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Mara's Influence [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Elder Scrolls Online</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/F, First Kiss, Mention of torture, rivenspire</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 06:33:32</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,331</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28590729</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/zirafics/pseuds/zirafics</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Nicolene’s eyes give that dangerous glint once more; that glint that betrays her passion and impulsiveness. Kaleen wants to see that shine in her eyes again and again.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Captain Kaleen/Nicolene</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Mara's Influence [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2095476</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Wordless</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>After an exhausted drink with Lerisa and Nicolene down at the bar, she stumbles into the room she’s been renting for the week. There’s a thunder out in the air, a strange magical thunder coming from the red storm in the sky above what the locals call the Doomcrag. There are vampires out in the hills, and worse still the bloodfiends unable to distinguish people and attacking any they see. There is an enemy in an inn room down the hall who betrayed her in Betnikh and allowed a powerful relic to be destroyed— a relic that could have saved Nicolene’s brothers and hundreds of others along the Daggerfall shores.</p><p> </p><p>Of course, a voice always gnaws at the back of her head that the choice had been the right one. An ancient relic that eats souls and corrupts its wielders has no place in honorable warfare. She chooses to swat that voice aside. The pirate in her says every treasure ought to be recovered and every enemy vessel sunk. At any rate, she won’t kill the “enemy” so long as that person continues to serve the Daggerfall Covenant. But boy is she tempted.</p><p> </p><p>Kaleen slowly kicks off her boots, one heel pulling on the other as she steadies herself in the doorway. Oh. The potion worked it’s temporary magic, but she’d been tortured. Bruised and bettered and whipped and starved. A potion could only do so much, and the real treatment would be time. Perhaps she’d commission a portal from the Mage’s Guild to take her and Nicolene back to Wayrest so that they wouldn’t have to bump around on a lousy cart for a day.</p><p> </p><p>She hears the door behind her open and close, and briefly spots Nicolene in her mirror. There are some vials in her arms and for a brief second the word <em>poison</em> flashes across Kaleen’s mind. It’s fine, she trusts the Breton girl with her life. But she’s still a little jumpy after what happened with Naruk.</p><p> </p><p>It’s wordless.</p><p> </p><p>Nicolene takes off Kaleen’s shirt one button at a time and gently guides the Captain over to her bed. On the open ocean, partial nudity is just a common occurrence that comes with people needing to work long hours in the heat. So she doesn’t really feel conscious that someone’s seeing her bare back as she lays down, and at the same time Kaleen is extremely conscious that it’s <em>Nicolene</em> seeing her. Why? Nicolene is just her cabin girl. Hell, after all they’ve been through she’s her best friend, and rather due for a promotion!</p><p> </p><p>One ear is pressed into a pillow, and the other catches the sound of a cork being removed from a glass bottle. A strange minty aroma fills the air and a cold, cold paste is applied to a gash running down her back. Nicolene lets out a small gasp as she discovers just how much pain her captain is truly in.</p><p> </p><p>“They tortured you so… <em>Gods</em>, Kaleen this is pure evil.”</p><p> </p><p>“So much for empowering Redguards. The Children of Yokeda just wanted their own power. Nothing else mattered to them. Hell, these were people who haven’t even seen home in decades. What do they know of Redguard politics now?”</p><p> </p><p>Another vial is uncorked. Kaleen’s back must have been seriously damaged from Naruk’s lash— but Nicolene’s fingers are so gentle and slow that Kaleen’s not even sure they’re touching her.</p><p> </p><p>“What… what are we going to do about you-know-who?” the Captain mummers. “It’s… it’s your call, Nicolene. I know what your brothers meant to you. You say the word, and I’ll make sure no one hears from her again.”</p><p> </p><p>The fingers stop. For a brief moment, the pain returns to her back and her eyes almost well but she takes a deep breath and waits for Nicolene to speak.</p><p> </p><p>“I know this person saved the lives of the citizens of Shornhelm. I’m not saying that’s a worthy trade for my brothers’ lives, but I couldn’t have pulled it off without her. And she saved you. That’s worth her own life, I think. Well, you’re worth a thousand of her lives… but… you know what I mean. She’ll never earn my forgiveness, but I know that everywhere she goes, she does good things. Maybe if people were more like her we wouldn’t have this fucking war to begin with.”</p><p> </p><p>Kaleen gently turned on her side, uncaring of the vulnerability— no, <em>caring</em> of the vulnerability. She took Nicolene’s wrist, her fingers still stained with green medicine, and just stared into Nicolene’s eyes. The Breton girl was clearly tired but she continued to show that fierce determination Kaleen had known in her since the day they first met.</p><p> </p><p>“Are you sure?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yes. I… I don’t want to hurt people, Kaleen. I’m just a cabin girl.”</p><p> </p><p>“You’re more than that.”</p><p> </p><p>The Breton blushes and gently turns the Captain so that she’s sitting upright. There’s a rustle in one of their backpacks and bandages are brought out. Kaleen sits still, the perfect patient, as her wounds are bound. She looks like one of those old Yokudan mummies you can accidentally stumble across, deep in the desert ruins. But it’s still a job done with precision and care. If Tumma-Shah were not their healer, Kaleen would have suggested it as a job for this young woman.  </p><p> </p><p>“How does that feel?”</p><p> </p><p>“Much better. I… I was in so much pain down there, and yet I was trying so hard to stay focused on the mission, on their plans, that I did not truly notice the damage. Thank you.”</p><p> </p><p>“Of course. Healing mushrooms are common in the crags out here, so—”</p><p> </p><p>“No, I mean… thank you for finding me. For not giving up. You could have just run back to the Spearhead and declared me missing. Taken over with Lerisa and not looked back.”</p><p> </p><p>Nicolene’s eyes give that dangerous glint once more. That glint that betrays her passion and impulsiveness. Kaleen wants to see that shine in her eyes again and again.</p><p> </p><p>“I wouldn’t. I would never. I couldn’t sail without you, I love you too much… um… I mean…”</p><p> </p><p>It’s wordless.</p><p> </p><p>Kaleen pulls her cabin girl into a kiss, into something so desperate and needed. It’s not uncommon for bonds to form out on the open ocean between sailors, crew, even between officers. But this is different. It feels like a Dwemer contraption beginning to spin and spiral and build up an entire room of whirling cogs and dynamos. Nicolene lets out a whimper and gently, gently slips into the bed with Kaleen. Though she’s bandaged in places, her shirt’s still off and the Breton’s hands are quick to wander. As though they’ve longed for her. How wonderful it feels to have a body that is longed for, she discovers.</p><p> </p><p>Something slows in Nicolene’s kisses, as though the girl is having to constantly remind herself that her Captain is injured. Kaleen doesn’t need anything hot and steamy from a bad Investigator Vale novel (or Leki forbid, the Lusty Argonian series) to know that Nicolene cares so deeply for her. There will be other nights, when she’s healed and when they’re in a safe, rocking cabin during a lazy rainstorm, where they will discover and explore each other.</p><p> </p><p>There will be a night when, in front of the whole crew, Kaleen proudly announces a new First Mate, much to the surprise of a blushing Breton. There will be a night when they fight back to back against Dominion Elves, and almost lose each other. There will be a night where they fight about Kaleen’s loyalty to Hammerfell and Nicolene’s loyalty to High Rock. There will be a night when Kaleen presents a forged sword, a symbol that Nicolene immediately recognizes after years of sailing in Redguard waters. And that same night, Nicolene will pull a single ring out of her pocket and smile back at the Captain.</p><p> </p><p>For tonight, intertwined legs and a smiling face tucked into her neck will do.</p><p>                 </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>ESO really hints at this pair, I think it's canon.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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